The Australian Business Review
US and Russian officials have reached an agreement on steps designed to pave the way for an end to the civil war in Syria, but officials declined to detail specific measures.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, without elaborating, said on Saturday that implementing the steps could address two problems: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his regime’s disregard of a February ceasefire agreement and attempts by some extremists to cloak their attacks by intermingling with opposition groups supported by the US.
At the start of the talks on Friday, Mr Kerry presented a proposal for closer military co-operation in Syria to include joint strikes against al-Qa’ida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra.
In exchange, Russia would agree to use its influence to ground Syria’s air force, which has continued to pound civilian centers.
It was unclear yesterday which elements of the proposal were part of the agreement reached in Moscow.
After more than 10 hours of talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the two sides had reached “a common understanding with regard to joint steps”. Mr Kerry said they still had “homework to do”.
Mr Kerry’s meetings with President Vladimir Putin and Mr Lavrov took place in the hours after the truck attack in Nice, adding an urgency to their talks.
Russia supports the Assad regime while the US demands that he step down. Both are opposed to Islamic State and al-Nusra, but differ on other groups of fighters.
Russia and the US have carried out separate campaigns of airstrikes against Islamic State.
US officials have complained that many of Russia’s airstrikes are aimed at groups fighting Assad, including US-backed rebels. As the US-Russian talks were concluding, reports of the coup attempt in Turkey started trickling in, adding further uncertainty to the conflicting global efforts under way in Syria.
Turkish military forces have been staging their own operations in Syria against Islamic State in recent months.
Washington’s proposal would have resulted in US and Russia sharing information on Nusra and Islamic State targets, along with integrated military operations.
Under that plan, Russia would limit its strikes to targets that both sides agreed on and refrain from striking US-allied groups.